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(No Model.)

H. K. HARKER.

MACHINE EOE MAKING METAL SEALS. 1\T0.327,54'7. Patented Oct. 6, 1885.

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I-IENRY K. IIAnItEE, oE CINCINNATI; oIIIo, `AssIeNoIt rro w. P. BRUCE AND II. C. EEUCE, Bort-I CE sAtIE PLACE.

lVlACHiNE FOR MAKING METAL SEALS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 327,547, dated October 6, 1885.

Serial No. 143,766. (No model) To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY K. Hannan, a citizen of the United States, residing at Gincinnati, Ohio, have invented new and useful Improvements in Machines for Making Seal- Blanks, of which the following is a specifica. tion.

My invention relates to machines for Inaking lead seals for use in sealing-packages, cardoors, or in similar situations. In such use it is customary to insert a wire through two holes in the seal and compress the latter upon the wires, the other end or loop of the wire being passed around the lock, staple, or other fastening upon the package or object'to be protected in such manner that the same cannot be opened without mutilating or displacing the seal or fastening.

Heretofore the cost of the seals has restricted their use, and in railroad service forms a serious item of expense.

My invention seeks to provide means for manufacturing the seals rapidly and cheaply; and to this end it consists in a construct-ion and provision of mechanism hereinafter set out, consisting, generally, first, of intermittent feed-rolls to push forward under a reciprocating punch and shear head a continuous lead rope; second, in the arrangement of the reciprocating head, which at one operation punches the wire-holes and cuts off the proper thickness of seal between adjacent pairs of holes; and, third, in the general construction and arrangement of parts for the end desired, as more fully hereinafter pointed out.

Mechanism illustrating my invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which* Figure lis a top plan of a machine complete; Fig. 2, a partial cross-section on line x x,- Fig. 3, a partial side elevation right to left; and Fig. 4, a seal made by the machine, illustratng its use.

In the drawings, Fig. l illustrates the general features, such as the lframework B, baseplate B, shaft S, with fly-wheel F, pulley P', and cranks 7; k. The latter have bearing in yokes Y, the same being guided and reciprocating in the extensions of the lever-arms A. These are pivotally fulcrumed on the shaft S', mounted in bearings in the side frames. They also have curved operative ends et a, adapted to fit and slide in suitable bearing-surfaces in the reciprocating shear and punch head H. These parts are not new, and form no part of the invention.

Upon rotating the shaft S it will be obvious that the cranks reciprocate the yokes in the lever arms, and the latter, through the operative heads, reciprocate the head H vertically in its guides U U on the side frames.

At one end of the crank-shaft, exteriorly, I provide bevelwheel g, meshing with another bevel-wheel, g', upon a counter-shaft, C, supported in brackets b on the side frame and b on an extension forward thereof.

Gear c on the front end of counter-shaft meshes with gear c' on the upper roll, It, and the latter by suitable gear with the lower roll, It', as shown.

An extension lip, T, of rubber or material faced with rubber or other elastic material upon the surface of the upper roll, is designed to act intermittently on the rope or coil resting on the lower roll to feed it forward the proper amount at the proper time, and the pitch of the gears and position of the lip T are arranged to this end. The rolls are mounted in yokes g3 g4 in the uprightfframes s3 s, upon the base-plate, furnishing means for withdrawing the rolls from the frames, when desired, and giving a means of adjustment. To more perfectly guide the lead-rope, I may groove the lower roll, as shown. These rolls and frames are arranged at one side, as shown, in line with the operating-head H, so as to secure proper feeding of the lead through the opening in the side frame of the machine, such arrangement being common.

Fig. 2 illustrates clearly the arrangement and construction of the operative parts of the reciprocating head H, being, first, a pair of punches, p', only one shown in the section figure, operating through the top of the circular horizontal guide-channel p2,- second, a shearknife, K, operating close to the end of the .guide-channel and arranged with a pushblock, I), to push out the prepared seal when cut off through the opening O at the bottom.

In connection with these I provide an adj ust-- able abutment-block, L, in two parts, with a spring or elastic cushion, i', between. The

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two parts are held together by a countersunk bolt or other suitable means, and supported at the proper height on a frame or bracket, L', on the base-plate. I form longitudinal slots s s in the supporting-frame and provide the block with side lugs, Z, and bolts for longitudinal adjustment. The inner portion, r', of the block acts as the abutting-surface, and the lead rope is continually fed against it. the object of the elastic cushion being to take up the expansion produced by the downward motion of the shearing-knife without undue com pression or mutilation of the seal-blank. It likewise provides a further means of adjustment to regulate the thickness of the sealblanks, the nut S2 on the bolt acting as a shoulder and preserving a constant distance between the knifeK and the abutting-surface of the block.

I provide spaces between the pairs of punches and the knife, and between the knife and abutting-surface of the abutment-block, such that the blanks are properly cut off between adjacent pairs of holes, as shown at h h', on seal D in Fig. 4. I preferably form the guide-chaunel between the punches and the shear-knife in two parts, attaching the lower` one, D2, to a supporting plate or anvil, E, and fixing the upper part, D', to the reciprocating head H, as shown. This construction secures straightening out of any irregularities in the lead rope fed into the machine, and compels accurate cutting oft` of the seal-blanks.

By the means described above I regulate the thickness of the seal-blanks D, and when prepared they come from the machine, as shown, with the holes h h ready for the insertion of the wires e e.

On compressing the seal in a suitable press it is firmly clamped or fastened to the wiresy both) with a projecting lip, T7 of elastic substance, arranged to rotate with such roll and intermittently feed the lead rope, operated by and in constant relation to the mechanism for reciprocating the shear and punch heads, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. The reciprocating head provided with one or more pairs of punches for forming the wire-holes and with the cutting knife and pushblock for cutting oft' and pushing out the prepared seal and having attached the upper portion ofthe circular guidechannel,arranged as and for the purposes set forth.

3. The adjustable abutment-block in two parts with interposed elastic cushion, as and for the purposes set forth.

4. The combination of abutment-block Lin two parts with interposed cushion i', the reciprocating head H, having shear-knife K, push-block P, and punches p thereon, the guide-channel in two parts, D D2, and the intermittent feed-rolls R R', having one or more projecting elastic lips, T, on the peripheries thereof, arranged substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HENRY K. HARKER.

Witnesses:

L. M. HosEA, R. M. HosEA. 

